Marc Rutte overwhelming victory

Diplomat Magazine would like to warmly congratulate Primer Minister Mark Rutte for his overwhelming victory at yesterday’s election in the Netherlands.

Mark Rutte Chief of the Liberal-Conservative Government of the Netherlands, clearly won the elections after four years of economic recuperation in a more fragmented, populist and Eurosceptic scenario than ever. The result of his election is an inspiration for supporters of a prosperous and tolerant Europe.

Rutte (The Hague, 1967) was prime minister for the first time in October 2010, elected after the failure of the coalition between Liberals and Christian Democrats trying to approve an austerity budget in the midst of the economic crisis.

Always considered a soft, simple, affable, modest man and firm politician; insistent to carry out his political projects, Rutte already made history by being the first Prime Minister of liberal governments in the Netherlands since the founding of his People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), in 1948. His serenity and ability to negotiate, his conciliatory attitude and good humour, have served him to weather difficult times, especially when he has been racked by his austere policies in the Netherlands and inside the EU as one of the main obstacles for Greece to received his first financial bailout.

One minute of silence has been observed by t Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Wednesday march 23 front of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in The Hague.

Since then, he led a minority right-wing coalition, whose power of legislation depended on the support of the Freedom Party (PVV), led by populist and anti-Islamist Geert Wilders. Rutte’s government managed to approve an austere budget with the support of five parties – Liberal, Democrat, Democrats 66, Greens and Christian Union – but failed after Wilders’ refusal to back a series of spending cuts.

He was re-elected prime minister after the elections of October 2012, this time after a narrow victory in the general elections, which allowed him to lead a center-left coalition, with the support of the Labor Party.

Rutte, a former staff manager of the Dutch multinational Unilever (1992-1997) and his subsidiary Calvé (1997-2000), revived in the 2012 campaign the VVD, of which he remains leader and candidate for re-election as Prime Minister. In this last term has counted on 41 seats, of a total of 150, being the VVD the majority party in the Dutch Parliament. Since his arrival in power, Rutte has had to impose large spending cuts, which have cost him a barrage of criticism for the austerity measures demanded by Brussels.

Crises overcome

Rutte had to assert all his diplomatic skills to overcome a crisis between The Hague and Moscow, for the arrest and detention of a Russian diplomat by the police in The Hague following by the assault of the Dutch Deputy Head of Mission’s house in Moscow. Four centuries of diplomatic and commercial contacts were over for weeks them re-established.

Another crisis he managed on July 17, 2014, was caused by the crash of a plane of Malaysian Airlines going from Amsterdam to Kuala – Lumpur; flight MH17 with 298 passengers on board, of which 196 were Dutch and the rest mostly from Malaysia and other countries. The plane crashed in eastern Ukraine predictably reached by land- Air fired by pro-separatists.

The European Union (EU) association agreement with Ukraine, was rejected by 60% of the Dutch in a referendum held in April 2016.

Admired by countless, Rutte has been seen on his bicycle in the morning from his house to the Parliament, in The Hague, promoting the protection of the environment and giving an example of an austere politician in times of crisis. Rutte, who lives with her mother, combined his career at the University of Leiden with the leadership of the liberal movement. Son of a family of merchants, few details are known about his private life, beyond that he is single, pianist in his spare time, Professor of Politics and member of the Protestant Church of Holland.